Recovery One (SYOC)
by nacebo
Summary: Remember in whichever book it was when Posiedon said that Percy might have some brothers and sisters coming? Well, he wasn't wrong, and turned out that all the new Big Three kids would really screw a lot of people. Featuring OCs, some regulars, and SYOC OPEN
1. A Really Fun Time

_Shit, shit, fucking shit._

Most of Benny's inner monologue at the moment was filled with words that would cause grandmothers to blush. That and _I didn't sign up for this._

His cloven hooves clattered against the linoleum floor, joined by the erratic patter of the girl whom he towed behind him. Her hand was sweaty, and her breathing light and panicked. She was completely terrified.

Fuck, _he _was terrified. He was not expecting this. He was expecting a simple job; the job explanation listed a particularly strong kid of maybe Ares, or Apollo. However, Ares and Apollo kids didn't attract this kind of monster, the kind that made his knees go weak just by looking at its dark silhouette. He hadn't exactly gotten the chance to look at it. Actually, he avoided looking at it completely.

Looking at it would take away all hope of escape.

Not that he had any.

….

THREE DAYS LATER

….

"Jesus fucking Zeus," Alec muttered.

"That's a new one," Eva snickered, toeing the pool of dried blood with the toe of her shoe. She squatted on her heels, scratching at a plastered tuft of fur with her pinky fingernail. "What do you think it was?"

Alec scanned the scene. He would have considered it a warzone, but it compared better to the ending of _Cabin of the Woods _where all the monsters lost their shit and send tidal waves of blood flowing through the building. That was a good movie, though this looked like it was right out of that movie. "No fucking clue. Whoever the scout and the kid were had no chance whatsoever. The caliber of monster must've been insane."

Eva checked her phone. A strand of dark hair fell across her face, and she blew it away with a puff. "Chiron says it was Ben, that one satyr with the shaved head, you know? And the kid was Erin Stevens, age 11. Parentage unknown. I am also currently stalking her Insta." Her face fell. "Oh. She was pretty."

"Didn't know either of them," Alec said quietly. He decided to change the subject. " Wonder what the Mist is going to make of this." The Mist was responsible for basically covering everyone's asses by causing the mortals to see something completely unrelated to whatever demigod shenanigans were going on.

"School shooting probably," Eva said dismissively, putting her phone back in her pocket. "That's what they all say nowadays. Haven't you watched the news lately? They've been all over the place lately."

"Nah. I've been too busy working on recovering dead bodies, haven't you?" He stared at the dark, vaguely human shapes lying at the end of the hall, where the blood turned darkest. He hated this job sometimes. It was fucking depressing, going after the bodies of those who had fallen in battle, or failed to escape, or otherwise. Yet someone had to do it. He snuck a glance at Eva. Her face was pale as always, but still as a stone. Gore had never bothered her- he knew _all _about her history- or him, for that matter. Which pretty much shoved them into being perfect candidates for the job. _Someone _had to do it. It was just that no one really wanted to.

"Of course, bro. Third time this week," she answered, pulling a long black bag out her pack, along with a white plastic suit. She tossed the suit to him, which he caught with a crinkle. The suits seemed way too clean considering where they were. He always wondered why they never came in black.

"More kids, more monsters," Alec mumbled, struggling to fit his shoes into the feet of the suit.

"That's not it." Eva pulled on her gloves, flexing her fingers wide. "The monster usually fits the kid, right? Hestias get hellhounds or something or other. Areses usually get harpies. Big Threes get… shit like this, that's basically impossible to survive unless you have a fuckton of help. The patterns usually don't fail."

"Oh?" Alec laughed. "A monster's a monster, I always thought."

Eva's face fell. "No. They're not."

Alec stared at her. Her face was grave, different from her usual _I don't really care about you fucking fucks _face. He had been on recovery with her for a while now, and most of the time she kept a light attitude, as it was pretty much necessary for the job. Yet now she was quite serious. "You're saying this is- was- a Big Three kid?"

She bit her lip. "I'm sure of it. I've already talked to Chiron about it. He's looking into it."

Alec raised his eyebrows. "Shit. This could be Percy Jackson's little sister or something."

She groaned. "Don't talk about that little shit," she said through gritted teeth. "I'm so sick of him." She ran a gloved hand through her hair, and stood for a moment, thinking.

Alec shuffled his feet, and gestured to the shapes at the end of the hall. "You want the arms?"

She snapped out of it and scrunched her nose. "Oh, fuck no. Gimme the feet. Last time I couldn't get the smell off for _ages._"

…

So that was kind of an intro to this story idea I had, I guess. When will I update? I don't know. You can't tell me what to do.

Tell me what you think and all that stuff. I used to be a writer on here before I abandoned (if you guys want to try and guess who I was if any of you remember, I had a pretty popular SYOC fic) and for some reason I felt like writing again, so here you go. Don't be surprised if it happens again, as I do have a life sometimes out of the internet, but enjoy it while it lasts.

I do enjoy feedback and stuff, so do your thing. As I mentioned, I did do some SYOC fics, so if you'd like to send me a character, I will be in need of half-bloods. Just give me a general but detailed outline and stuff, and remember that not everyone has a super tragic backstory.

So send me feedback, review, and send me characters! I'll let you know if I use them or not.

Thanks!

(Also, if you haven't noticed already, I have a filty mouth. If you're offended by that, you can be, I don't give a shit, but get fucking used to it because you're going to hear a lot of it when you grow up, kiddies.)


	2. Old Acquaintances and Cuddly Monsters

Camp Half Blood was growing like mold in a cold, dark place, and Alec smiled at his amazingly shitty simile. Leave the poetry to the Apollo kids.

But really, Camp Half Blood was filled to almost capacity. Some of the tiny cabins had evolved with the help of the Hephaestus kids to full dorms expanding underground, and Chiron (with the help of Olympus) had managed to expand the boundaries of the camp twice. He wouldn't be surprised if soon they'd have to make another camp somewhere. Lastly, because of the ever-growing numbers, the camp also adopted a graduation system: After you turn eighteen, you're done. On your own. Free to visit, maybe get a partner job as most did, but feel free to not stay the night. There was just no more room.

Even so, nothing had really changed, except for the gods continuing their disregard any sort of birth control.

Alec thanked the gods he'd graduated already.

When he and Eva arrived back at the camp, they were greeted by a long-faced (get it?) Chiron, as always. (If you still didn't get it, it's because Chiron is a motherfucking horse.)

"Welcome back," he said solemnly as Alec and Eva hopped out of the van. "Though I'm sorry I had to send you."

Eva shrugged and squinted at the camp. "Getting bigger, I see," she mused. "Have the gods ever taken a sexual education course? Or at least one not in Texas? They need to know that children aren't always part of the gods' plans, you know."

Chiron chucked, though it was more out of acknowledgement rather than humor. "I will recommend it to them." He glanced sadly over at the truck. "I contacted the girl's parents. They are going to pick her up at the funeral home tomorrow."

Eva stayed silent, but Alec asked, "Do you want us to drop her off?"

The centaur shook his head. "No. I've kept you busy all week. You deserve a break. You can spend the night in the Big House, if you'd like. Some of the others are here."

Eva narrowed her eyes. "Others? You guys don't usually have slumber parties. What's going on?"

He sighed. "I've called a meeting. It's only a few of the more skilled graduates, but it should be enough. A new job offering, you see. I assumed you both would be interested."

"Count us in," Alec told him. "Is it okay if we look around the camp? We'd like to go say hi and stuff." To this Chiron nodded, and Eva and Alec headed off as the satyrs approached the van to tend to their fallen friend.

….

Eva gazed at her old cabin. Unlike the rest of the camp, it had remained unchanged; small, plain, and white, with no hint as to which god or goddess' children it housed. Which made sense. It was Camp Half Bloods' Misc. Cabin, where they threw in anyone who didn't have enough half-siblings for a whole cabin. Eva was, as far as she knew, her mother's only child.

She knocked on the door and twisted the handle. "Hello?" she called, peeking her head through the door. There was no answer- everyone was probably doing activities of some sort- so she walked in. The cabin was, as always, an eclectic mixture of personalities, order, and chaos. Each bed had its own miniature shrine built next to it for whomever's child slept there; unsurprisingly, Eva didn't recognize most of them. She navigated through a small sea of dirty laundry and miscellaneous weapons until she reached her old bunk in the smallest corner of the room.

Her mother's shrine had been replaced with one worshiping Thoosa (whoever that was), and instead of her movie posters and random drawings, there were pictures of a girl with what Eva assumed to be her friends. She was blonde, and pretty. _She looks like Erin._

Eva gently pulled a picture off the wall and sunk onto the bed. Erin probably had friends. She was probably popular too, considering the picture Eva saw on her Insta. When she closed her eyes, she could visualize it; the dead girl beaming, on a volleyball court surrounded by her friends and holding a trophy. Pretty much the life Eva always wanted.

"Fuck," Eva whispered, lowering her head into her hands.

A voice chuckled. "I mean, if that's what you want to do, I suppose I'll participate."

Eva looked up. A boy with short dark curls and a lazy grin leaned in the doorway of the cabin. His dark green jacket was significantly more beat up than she had recalled. "Emon?"

His grin grew wider, teeth bright against his olive skin. "So are we going to do the previously mentioned promiscuous activity or not?"

She laughed, more of a sharp huff of air. "Go to Tartarus." Emon. She hadn't seen him in a while. He'd been in her cabin back when she was still at camp, and yes, they had a… _thing._ He sat down on the bed next to her. His weight caused the mattress to sink awkwardly. Their thighs touched, and Eva slid away awkwardly.

"How's it been?"

Eva shrugged. "Oh, you know. Cleaning up dead bodies. That sort of thing."

He wrinkled his nose. "Gross. See anything cool? Never mind, I actually just decided I don't want to know." He scratched at the bedpost a little. "Here for the new job?"

"Well, I felt pretty obligated to, seeing as I may be the reason it was brought up," she answered. "I may or may not have figured out Zeus (and, I guess, the other guys) have gotten back to their old ways-"

"-Old ways?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know, having kids with anything that moved, read the mythology. Anyway, these kids are getting absolutely murdered because the satyrs aren't well prepared for the kind of demons they attract."

Emon pursed his lips, thinking. "So they're sending us instead? Sounds fun." There was an awkward pause. "So who's that guy you arrived here with? You two a thing?"

Eva choked. "Alec. And no, he's just my partner." Seeing the look on his face, she punched him in the arm. It was supposed to be a playful punch, but it came out harder than she'd meant it to. Probably some unresolved issues there or something. "So, uh… what have you been up to?"

"Started the arms dealing business," he replied. To a mortal, that probably would sound highly illegal. But for an adult demigod, it was perfectly normal. Grown demigods still needed weapons, and celestial bronze and imperial gold were not exactly stocked at your local gun store. "I've found some pretty cool stuff, if you still use that rifle of yours."

She shrugged and bit her lip. "Sure. I'll check it out, I guess. The meeting should be starting soon, so…"

Emon jumped up. "Oh. Yeah. Right." He started for the door, but turned around to see Eva still sitting on the girl's bed. He looked at the ground. "You know I am sorry, right?"

Eva half-nodded. "It's alright. We should go."

Everyone was already seated when they arrived at the Big House. Emon sat in the nearest seat, but Eva scanned the faces- some familiar, some not- until she found Alec, who had an empty seat next to him. He gave her a quizzical look as she sat down.

_Emon? _He mouthed. He didn't know that much about him, because Eva didn't really say anything about him. It was usually better not to. She nodded, and he raised an eyebrow, miming shooting a basket. _Scoring?_

Eva almost vomited.

"Okay, everyone, we're going to get this over with now," Mr. D said. He stood at the front of the round table, with a projector behind him. He was repulsive as ever, and seemed to be wearing the exact same Hawaiian shirt as the last time Eva saw him. And the time before that.

"Where's Chiron?" she asked.

"Tending to a camper that seemed to have accidently set herself alight with Greek fire while trying to dye her hair. If that's not a rollercoaster of a sentence, I don't know what is."

"Missed you, Big D," someone said.

"Oh, fuck you all, you little shits," he growled. "Don't think I can't treat you like the little shits you are, because you're technically adults now, so I can do what I want."

Emon cleared his throat. "Does that mean you'll give us wine now?"

"Drinking laws are no joke." The god of wine glared at the speaker. "Emon O'Kinnen. I always hated you." Emon blew him a little kiss, and Mr.D's nostrils flared. "I can't believe I'm about to send you all to save people's lives. Speaking of which, look at this."

He clicked on the projector. An image of a huge dark shape, only distinguishable by its silhouette and obvious jagged teeth, too numerous for its mouth. The picture was blurry, and seemed to be taken from the end of a school hallway, where the thing seemed to just have enough room to move; if she was guessing right, it was probably the size of a small school bus.

Mr.D smiled at their expressions of horror. "That's what I like to see. This great brute has been responsible for- if our lovely friend Emma's hypothesis is correct-"

"-Eva," Alec interrupted.

Mr.D bristled for a moment. "If our friend Eva-I'm-not-pretending-to-care's hypothesis is correct, this thing has killed four children of Zeus, Poseidon, and/or Hades." The sky rumbled. "Oh, shut up, I'm trying to help here," Mr.D muttered toward the sky. "So yeah. We're going to pretty much send you guys out to find the rest of the Big Three Kids where you'll probably run into this thing, which apparently leaves no survivors."

"Wonderful," someone laughed.

Mr.D's expression darkened. "As much as I hate you all and wouldn't mind if you all died, I'm serious when I say this is no laughing matter. If any of you face this thing, do not, I repeat, _do not _let it bite you."

Eva shivered, as next to her, Alec asked, "What happens if it does?"

"Oh, a number of things," Mr. D said. "First, it will probably hurt like hell. Second, based on autopsies we've done on its victims, it poisons you. Although it didn't seem to keep you alive long enough for that. But if you do survive a bite… well, it kind of develops a taste for your blood."

"And what does that mean?"

Mr.D's stare hardened. "It will hunt you to the ends of the Earth until it kills you." He paused. "Well, according to sources, it usually takes a side trip or two first, but it always finds its way back. Oh, and another happy point: no one's killed it yet, so have fun."

Alec cleared his throat. "And you want us to go out to find half-bloods knowing this thing will come after us?"

The god shrugged. "I'll buy pizza for the first one that kills it."

Emon laughed. "Great. Where do I sign up?"

…..

So yeah. There's chapter two. Please review, do your thing, etc. It should start picking up soon-ish. So yeah.

Keep sending me your OCs! If you're interested, please refer to chapter two.

Thanks!


	3. First Day:A Hint of a Tragic Backstory

Dakota took a deep breath and adjusted her sleeves in her mirror. New school, new beginning, she told herself. Knock on wood. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. Short-ish. Wavy blonde hair, southern-belle style. Tan skin, the result of long hours on horseback. Wide, bright blue eyes. She looked totally innocent.

No one would think that she was pretty much responsible for her best friend's death.

There was a knock on her door. She flattened her skirt nervously, hoping that it wasn't too short on her- that would be inappropriate for this occasion, and her mother taught her better.

"Hello?" She asked timidly, opening the door.

Waiting for her was a girl, bouncing back and forth excitedly on her heels. She smiled, "Hey there! You're one of the new kids, right?" The girls smile was blinding. She could probably be a model for toothpaste commercial. Or just a model in general. She tossed her perfect auburn hair over her shoulder and smile wider, if it was possible. "I'm Cady, I'm supposed to show you to your new class!"

Dakota smiled back. Something about this girl made her nervous. Maybe it was because she was the first girl her age to not treat her like a lost puppy ever since Tyler died. It was kind of relieving at the same time, though; Dakota could take care of herself, she knew that for sure, but lately everyone had been treating her like a priceless statue that could get pushed over at any second.

"Oh, thanks," Dakota said politely. "But class doesn't start for fifteen minutes, right?"

Cady's eyes narrowed as some people's do when they see an adorable puppy, as if the cuteness is literally too much to take in. "Oh, your accent is so keyyyyyy-ute!" She bubbled. "Where are you from?"

"Georgia," Dakota answered.

"Oh-em-gee, you'll have to tell me all about it! But right now, we should probably go- everyone arrives early to the first day to get the best seats. You don't want to end up at the front, especially with Mr. Archer." She cupped a hand around her mouth, as to tell a secret, though no one was actually around. "He can be a real monster, you know?"

Dakota felt a shiver run down her spine. "Oh. Yeah," she answered.

Real monsters. She knew all about those.

She saw them all the time. At first she thought they were just her imagination. Once she got past the age of imaginary friends, she figured out they weren't supposed to be there. No one else could see them. Finally, she'd asked her mother to take her to a psychiatrist. But her mother shook her head, and told her that they were real, and though Dakota found it absolutely terrifying at first, she got used to it. The monsters almost never got near her, almost as if she was being protected by something. There was the bat-winged old woman that had stalked her at her family's ranch when she was six (though her family insisted that it was an imaginary friend), the giant black dogs she saw creeping in dark places, and most recently, the giant fanged… thing… that she'd spotted on the train ride to the school.

Then there was also the one that killed Tyler. The one time they'd actually gotten close to her.

Cady noticed her expression, and frowned sympathetically. "Oh, don't worry Dakota. I'm just exaggerating a little. I'm sure you'll love it here!"

Dakota paused. The hallway suddenly felt chilly, and she pulled her blazer tighter across her chest. "How did you know my name?" Cady shrugged and gestured to Dakota's door. Dakota turned to see a _Welcome, new student! _poster taped to it, with DAKOTA written in loopy handwriting under it. "Oh."

Cady shrugged again, beaming. "We make them for all the new students. So do you want to go down to class or not?"

"Sure," Dakota nodded, pushing a blonde lock behind her ear, and starting down the hallway behind Cady.

Maybe the school was going to be okay. Coming from where she'd been, with the whole Tyler incident, she thought she was doing okay so far- she hadn't accidentally destroyed anything yet, or gotten anyone killed, and she'd already made (kind of?) a friend. Yet still, there was something about the school that made her feel like she should start running, now.

….

"Aw, see? I told you we should've left early, Dakota!" Cady whined positively, if that was even possible.

Most seats were already filled with people. To be exact, all but two were filled; one in the middle of a group of whom Cady assumed to be the popular girls, with perfect hair and makeup and filed nails; and one sandwiched between the window and a girl with dark hair pulled back into an artfully messy ponytail. That, or it was just plain messy. Still, it looked cute in the I-just-got-out-of-bed way that Dakota sometimes strived for, but failed to achieve.

One of the popular girls immediately stood up, blonde curls bouncing. "Cady, over here!" she called, waving a manicured hand.

Cady turned to Dakota apologetically. "I'm really sorry," she said. "Make sure you find me for lunch, so we can sit together?"

"That's fine," Dakota answered, and Cady went and sat next to the popular girls. They all immediately started giggling and gossiping. Many of them were sneaking looks at the boy sitting next to the girl with the ponytail. He had olive skin and dark hair, and looked vaguely like some actor that Dakota could visualize but not name. The boy noticed the girls staring at him and grinned back mischievously.

"Jesus fucking Zeus," the ponytail girl muttered.

Zeus? Like Greek mythology? "Excuse me?" Dakota asked concernedly as she sat down. The girl cocked her head to look at her. Her eyes were so dark they seemed completely devoid of color, unsettling and at the same time, strangely soothing. Dakota felt some of her first-day nervousness and homesickness float away; even some of her emotions about the Tyler incident felt a little less intense. A little.

The girl blinked then squinted her eyes, as if she was examining her. "Yes, Zeus," she said slowly, as if she was simultaneously trying to figure out a really hard math problem. "Your eyes are really interesting," she added. "Very blue. Almost… electric, you could say."

Dakota blushed and ran a hand through the end of her hair. "That's very kind. I'm Dakota."

"Eva," the girl said. "So where you from? Somewhere south, I'm assuming. You sound like a cowgirl."

Dakota bit her lip. This was really the part of starting a new school- again- that she was dreading; the getting-to-know-you bit. Because then you had to talk about yourself, your favorite color, favorite food, where you're from. And the where you're from part was inevitably going to turn into "why are you here?"

"Georgia," she answered.

"Huh." Eva cocked her head. "What brings you all the way from Georgia to Illinois? It's not like it's a short commute." There it was. Dakota wished that she could somehow change the subject without being obvious. At the same time, this girl seemed like she could be trusted. That she cared, or something. Dakota didn't know how to explain it, but she felt like she could pour out all her problems to her.

She took a deep breath. "Um… There was sort of this accident, see," she told her cautiously. "It was kind of my fault, and by best friend is… kind of worse off from it." They locked eyes, blue and black. Eva's face was calm and sincere.

"It was not your fault," Eva said softly, almost in a whisper. Though their eyes were locked, hers seemed almost far away, like she was half thinking of something else. "It may seem like it, but you have to know it's not."

Dakota's voice caught in her throat. "How do you know?" she choked.

Eva pressed her lips together. It looked like she desperately wanted to tell her something, but it wouldn't come out. She let out a short breath and opened her mouth as if she were to say something, but was interrupted by the slam of a door.

"That's the teacher, I'm guessing," she said instead. "Well, that was a fun talk." She leaned in suddenly, closely. "Listen-" she whispered intensely. "If anything happens- _anything_- you find me. Or this guy," she added, gesturing with her shoulder to the flirty guy next to her.

Dakota blinked. "I can take care of myself, but thanks for the offer," she whispered back.

Eva's jaw tensed. "If that's what you want, okay. But trust me- you're probably going to want our help later."

"Wait- what are you even talking about?" Dakota whisper-asked, and was immediately hit in the face with a piece of chalk. It left a white smear on her blazer when she wiped her cheek. Around her, the class tittered.

"No talking in my class," the teacher- a stocky man with curly hair, severe eyebrows and a slightly wrinkled shirt- grumbled. He had written his name on the board in short, severe handwriting- Mr. Archer.

"Yes sir. Sorry sir," Dakota apologized.

Mr. Archer frowned. Dakota noticed his eyes were also black, but not in the same way as Eva's. Where Eva's were soothing, the teacher's were unsettling. "Shut up. You're still talking."

"Sorry sir."

Mr. Archer looked up at the ceiling and sighed a long, painful sigh. "This is going to be a long year," he said.

….

So there you go. Again, reviews and things are appreciated, as are OCs (best if you PM me.) I'll keep the OC thing open for a little while longer, so keep them coming!

Any guesses who Dakota's parent is? It's not obvious or anything.

A little harder: Eva's?

So yeah. Do your thing.

Thanks!


	4. Dads and Dreams

Alec glanced at the hotel clock. The luminous red numbers read 9:08. He groaned and slumped back onto the bed and flipped on the TV.

They were late. Not that it worried him too much. They were adult half-bloods, so they knew how to avoid dying pretty well. He was just impatient.

Though he did have the good end of the deal; in their mission to scout out the particularly-powerful-slash-possible-Big-Three half-blood that Chiron had detected, his job instead of playing school was to sit around and keep tabs on everything. Eva and Emon. The half-blood. Possible monsters (of which, so far, counted up to three). Finally, the inevitable Big-Ass Death Monster. (It had been nicknamed many things, and Alec liked them all too much to settle on one name.) Chiron had sent out scouts, like Ryan Blaze, to track the thing and keep tabs on it and hopefully, help out once it attacked. As of the last report, it was blazing a trail through Kentucky.

And it would arrive in less than a week, if the scouts were correct.

If Alec had his way, they would grab the half-blood and get out of there. Unfortunately, that would trigger the old "once you know, it blows" thing and every monster in a fifty-mile radius would come after them. That wouldn't be too much of a problem, Alec guessed, but it would also cause the Giant-Toothed Fuck to come after them with even more bloodlust than before.

In addition, the monster was following them. It knew where they were; it's almost beeline trail so far told him that, and some sort of battle was inevitable, and Alec wanted the home court advantage; he wanted to learn the school and all its nooks and crannies, so that once it came down to that, they knew where their escapes were.

Alec sighed. Everything seemed so inconvenient that it seemed like some higher power was making it deliberately awful for them. But that was how being a half-blood was. Fucking inconvenient.

"I know, right?" A voice said.

Alec lifted his head from the pillow. "Oh, hey dad," he said in a monotone voice. "Fancy meeting you here."

Hermes brushed off his tracksuit. It was the same one he always wore, that made him kind of look like a middle-aged power walker, though everyone was too afraid to tell him that, seeing as he was a god and everything. Alec noticed he didn't have his little snake friends with him, unless they were hidden in another form or something. "Yeah, well. I do love visiting my children. Especially the ones that actually live for eighteen-plus years. It's a refreshing change."

"Well, I'm glad to know you appreciate me. So why are you here? To throw some other prophecy or information at me that will give me doubt about myself or my peers that I won't resolve until it really, really matters?"

Hermes shrugged. "Funny you should ask," he began.

"Mother_fucker_," Alec muttered.

"Shut up, you're being ungrateful," Hermes scolded, but not very seriously. "That Emon kid? I don't like him."

Alec scoffed. "Neither do I. He's a shady kid."

"I don't like him," Hermes said again. He paused, like he was rolling his next words around in his mouth before he said them. "You ever ask Eva about her last quest that she had with him?"

Alec shook his head. "Never did. It seemed like a really touchy subject, so I figured if she wanted me to know, she would've told me."

Hermes paused for a second and looked at Alec skeptically. "You two a couple?"

Alec felt his face turn red, and tried to will it away. "No. Funny, I'm asked that a lot. We just got partnered together for the retrieval job."

Hermes smirked. "You ever see that tumblr post-"

Alec sniggered. "You tumble?"

This time it was Hermes' turn to blush. "You little shit. But there is a post about how sometimes teachers partner students who they think should date together-"

"Oh my gods," Alec said. "Leave."

Hermes laughed. It was kind of dad-like, in a way. "Okay, okay. But seriously. Watch out for Emon." Hermes eyes looked cold. "He's not how you think."

"Sure, sure," Alec muttered. "See ya later." Hermes gave him a little two-fingered salute, and spun on one foot, vanishing with a poof. Alec watched him go, and couldn't help feeling a small sense of pride. Visits from his dad were, of course, somewhat rare, but they did happen. Which, as far as he knew, was a lot more that most of his siblings. He knew some that had still never seen or talked to him yet.

There was a sniff at the window. "Who were you talking to?"

Alec turned to see Emon perched in the windowsill. His dark curly hair reflected a bluish color in the moonlight, and his dark eyes glinted mischievously. Alec's stomach churned a little, as his dad's words echoed in his head. _Watch out for Emon._ "Oh, you know. Gods that like to show up at random times and say hi. Where's Eva?"

Emon shrugged. Alec noticed his new school uniform- navy blue blazer with a green striped tie, and absentmindedly wondered what it looked like on Eva. "I don't think she was able to sneak out. The girls were having a little new-school-year-meet-and-greet or something. Probably painting their nails and watching _Mean Girls_ or something." He swung his legs into the room. "You find out there Ol' Fangy is?"

Alec nodded. "We've got less than a week. You figure out who the other monsters are yet?"

Emon shrugged again and yawned. "The teacher is kind of suspicious, but I'm pretty sure he's just a dick. There was the group of popular girls, who I have become acquainted with-"

"Sure you did," Alec muttered.

Emon put a finger to his lips. "Hush. I'm monologing. Anyway, it could really be anyone."

Alec rolled his eyes. "I see you've set your priorities straight."

Emon rolled his own eyes, mimicking him. "Well, it's kind of hard with the Big Three chick right next to you. She gives of power like a nuclear power plant. It's a miracle that I can still smell with her around."

Alec huffed. "Well, let me know if you find out anything."

Emon gave him a half smile before he hopped from the window. "I'll let Eva know, too."

Alec wanted to ask him. Quite badly. What was his history with Eva? He'd never asked her himself. It just didn't seem right. As her partner, he had to respect her, and that meant respecting her privacy as well. But being her partner meant protecting her. With this job, he knew that that meant protecting her from the inevitable monsters, but he feared he might have to protect her from Emon as well.

….

Eva was floating gently, gently down. Her hair swirled around her head in a dark halo, and when her feet touched the ground ever so slightly, it floated down to her shoulders like a soft curtain.

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. The air smelled like a forest, humid and filled with earthen aromas. When she opened her eyes, she was in a dark forest, with the full moon showing mottled silver through the deep green canopy.

And she was filled with a sluggish terror. She tried to look around, but it was as if she was enveloped in molasses.

"_Evangeline_," a voice hissed. It was vaguely human, but otherworldly, as if the voice was being used without permission, forced and pained. "_Where are you, Evangeline?"_

"That's not my name," Eva murmured. She could feel her heartbeat in her throat. _No one calls me that. My dad doesn't even call me that. _

"I _called you that, my little Evangeline," _the voice dripped. _"Where are you? I want to see you. I thought we were more than just friends, Evangeline."_

"Stop- stop saying that," Eva struggled. Her arms and legs wouldn't move, but the forest spun around her as a dark figure danced behind the trees. The smell of the forest was stronger now, but sickly sweet.

The voice sniggered. "_Oh, are you hurt by this form, Evangeline? I thought you liked it- or was it more than just that?"_

Eva closed her eyes and took a breath, but it calmed her as much as taking a deep breath of water. She fell to her knees, grimacing. "Go away. You're not… you're not…"

"_Not him?" _the voice said, falsely sympathetic. "_How do you know it's not? It's me, Evangeline. You remember me, don't you? When we snuck out of camp on the Fourth of July-"_

"You're not him-" Evangeline gasped, curling closed to the dirt. It was like some force kept pushing her down, trying to push her through the earth.

"_-And then we climbed the tree together and kissed under the fireworks-"_

"_Shut up!"_ Eva screamed. "_You're not him!"_

With her words, it felt like a barrier was broken, and the force pushing her down was gone. She stayed in her curled position, breathing deeply into the forest floor. The forest around her was silent except for the sound of her own breathing. She opened her eyes, feeling her eyelashes tangle from the weight of tears.

_Maybe he's gone._

Slowly, cautiously, she lifted her head.

And she felt a hand, claw like, grab her hear and force her to look upward.

The young man before her smiled inhumanly, and her insides froze to ice. He cocked his head, eyes glinting yellow against olive skin, framed by black curls.

"_Evangeline," _it hissed.

Eva woke with a start, gasping for air.

It was a dream. Just a dream of something that happened long ago. It wouldn't hurt her.

It wouldn't hurt her. Eva repeated that in her head several times. She lifted a hand to brush her hair back, and was met with a forehead wet with sweat.

It wouldn't hurt her.

She laid herself back down. It was just a dream.

"Oh, I wouldn't go back to bed just yet," someone said. "You woke up just in time for the party!"

Eva flung out her arm, but a cold hand was slapped over her mouth and she was dragged from her bed. 

**So there's the stuff for this week. Hope you enjoyed, and please review! Its quite helpful in the motivation area and such, and I really appreciate it!**

**Also, I forgot to mention. Last weeks new character, Dakota, is the OC of Blitzy-chan! So yeah. There's also the vaguely mentioned Ryan Blaze of Princess of Flames, so thank you to you both!**

**Keep submitting OCs! I'll make up my mind sooner or later.**


	5. Nighttime is a Fun Time

Eva's head slammed against the floor as she was dragged from her bed by her leg, and bright spots floated across her vision. A warm sensation was spreading across her calf; claws had broken the skin. Yet she felt a surge of adrenaline, because she had her mechanical pencil in her hand.

She clicked it three times, feeling it transform into a dagger, longer and longer with each click until it was about as long as her hand. She slashed out, feeling it slice through whatever had a hold on her leg, like a knife through cheese.

"Fucking half-bloods," the monster hissed as it released her leg. It ran a clawed hand over the gash on its wrist, which leaked golden dust.

Eva got herself into a crouch. Her vision had cleared, but not without leaving her head with a fuzzy feeling. Her attacker had been one of the "popular" girls in her class; she still had her white-blonde straightened hair, but her laser-whitened teeth had elongated into fangs, and her eyes glowed red. Brown batlike wings sprouted from her back, bony with skin stretched tight.

"Yeeugh," Eva mumbled. "Props to your makeup skills. It must take ages to cover that shit up."

The harpy tossed her hair. Her claws were painted a sparkly red color, Eva noticed.

"I'm tumblr famous for it," she scoffed proudly. "But like, you're not even going to live to look up my blog or whatever." The harpy crouched to spring. Her lips pulled back into a snarl.

Eva clicked her pencil a couple more times. The blade lengthened even more until it was the length of a normal sword. The metal was strong, celestial bronze, but the blade itself was thin, and depending on the enemy, prone to breaking. That could be solved with a click or two, but like a regular mechanical pencil, it was running out of lead (though in this case, it was bronze). And the rest of her refills were across the room.

_Better make this fast._

….

Dakota couldn't sleep. It wasn't that she was having weird dreams again. She'd started having them a little while ago. They always had weird… _things _in them, shadows of monsters and things that she didn't even know she could dream up. But not tonight. Tonight she was getting a weird feeling.

Like something bad was going to happen soon.

She lay in bed for a long time, trying to will herself asleep, but it was no use. She stared at her alarm clock. 1:42, it read in bright blue letters. She started at it until the numbers changed. Then she tried to fall asleep again. Frustrated, she got up and stood at her window. Outside, it was dark, except for the schools outdoor lights. It was drizzling, and the thick layer of clouds covered up the moon. Her mother used to tell her to be careful on moonless nights, because on those nights it wasn't there to protect you. As if the moon was a person.

With that thought, there was a small flash of lightning followed by a low rumble. The flash echoed in her vision, and Dakota blinked curiously. She felt oddly comforted, as if since the moon was gone, the lightning was to protect her instead.

"Thank you," she whispered, not sure who exactly she was talking to. There was another flash of lightning, and the drizzle turned into a rain.

Instead of the following thunder, Dakota heard a crash from a few rooms down.

...

Eva panted as she stared at the monster across the room and admired her haircutting skills. The harpy's hairstyle was drastically improved, in her opinion. The right side had been hacked off below the ear.

"Oh. Seems like I nicked your ear," Eva said disappointedly. "Does that mean you won't leave me a tip?"

"Bitch, I paid twenty dollars for those extensions!" it hissed, lunging for Eva. It hit her like a linebacker. They landed in a frenzied tangle on the bed. The harpy had gotten ahold of her hands and pinned them above her head. Eva's sword was still in her hand, and she frantically tried to twist her wrist around to cut the harpy somehow. "You're going to pay for that!"

Then there was a knock at the door.

Eva and the harpy stared at each other in bewilderment and ceased struggling for a second.

"You gonna get that?" Eva mumbled awkwardly.

"Wasn't planning on it," the harpy answered through her fangs.

…

Emon finished climbing through the window and shook out his hair. Little water drops landed on the windowsill and quickly dried from the cool breeze. It smelled like asphalt and rain. _Bad enough that Eva ditched the meeting with Alec. Then of course, it had to start pouring on the way back. _He could feel the water squish through his socks.

"_Your hair is long when it's wet_," a smooth female voice said behind him. "_I like it that way_."

He felt a cold shiver go up his spine, but he didn't even attempt to locate his voice. That was his mother's way; just be a creepy little shit all the time and screw up literally everything. He began walking down the hall, trying to ignore her.

The voice purred. "_Oh, don't be like that_."

Emon began walking faster. _Leave me alone_, he thought forcefully, as if he was trying to will the words out like bullets. In his peripheral vision, he could almost make out a woman's silhouette creeping across the walls. Or maybe it was just the dimly lit hallway. All he knew was that he had to keep her away. From Eva. From everyone.

"_If that's how it's going to be, fine._" The vague shadows darkened and swirled even more violently, just barely in his range of sight.

Emon closed his eyes and waited for the shadows to go away. Once the shadows went away, he was safe. Everyone else would be safe. He felt his heartbeat gradually slowing down. He hadn't realized before that the pounding in his hears had been his heartbeat. _She is leaving_. The very thought calmed him. Until he heard words that turned his veins to ice.

"_See you soon."_

His eyes shot open and he spun around to see the fleeting image of the shadows shoot toward one singular dark spot on the wall. Panting, Emon stared at it, waiting for something terrible to happen, but it stayed completely still.

It was only when he turned to head back to his room that he realized the dark spot was his own shadow.

Emon forced himself to keep walking, even though he felt as if he were made of ice.

He'd barely even realized that he had walked into the Dakota girl.

"Oh- oh my god-"

"Gods," Emon corrected, not even realizing.

"What? Anyway, I'm sorry- wait, how did you get to this side of the dorm? And oh, you're all wet-" Emon put a finger to her lips, not even fully aware of what he was doing. He felt like he was sleepwalking or something, and just noticed that his finger was trembling. Her eyes widened. They were electric blue, which Emon never thought could be a real eye color, but hey. Gods and everything.

Dakota pulled his hand down and held it in her own. "You're cold. And really pale. Are you okay?"

Emon searched for words, and excuse. "Bad dream. I went for a walk. It was wet."

Dakota looked at him and chuckled softly. "I can tell."

"Why are you out here? If I'm correct, both of us being outside our rooms is against the rules. Especially if we're together. Is this your room?"

Dakota blushed scarlet. "I would never- not with you- I mean boys in general- oh-" She bit her lip and looked at him apologetically. "And this isn't my room. It's Eva's. I thought I heard a noise, so I went to check on her, but she hasn't answered."

In the back of his mind, he felt a fleeting terror that he had ended up outside Eva's room unintentionally, but he stowed it away quickly. "A noise?"

Dakota shrugged and fiddled with her pajama shirt. "Sounded like fighting or something. I don't know."

"Fighting, huh?" Emon scrambled in his head for something to say. "That would make sense, I guess. Um, Eva's a bit on an insomniac, and she sometimes does crazy things when she can't sleep. She's probably trying to rearrange her room or something."

"Quite violently, it sounds like. Are you sure she's alright?"

Emon looked her in the eye and grinned, though after his confrontation with his mother, the last thing he wanted to do was smile. But hey, he was a good liar. "I'm sure."

Dakota looked at him skeptically, but seemed calmed. "Okay then." She turned to walk back to her room, but paused. "Are you two related?"

Emon's eyebrows rose. "No, why?"

She shrugged. "You look alike and act alike… kind of like you're the same person. You sure you're not related or something?"

He gave her another smile. "Just old friends."

She nodded, though it seemed to him that she wasn't entirely sure. Emon wasn't sure which part would make her skeptical- the "related" part or the "friends" part. Either way, she slipped back into her room.

Emon stood there for a second. _She might be catching on. In that case, we're out of time._ Then he knocked on Eva's door. It opened a crack, through which he could see Eva's eye peering at him. For a second he didn't think she was going to let him in, but after a few seconds the door opened just enough for him to slip inside.

The room was a mess. There were tears in her bedding, and half of the furniture was either cracked or covered in claw marks. There were shards of what Emon recognized as her breakable sword scattered across the room. On top of that, everything was coated in a fine layer of gold dust, including Eva herself. She was shaking out her bed, sending clouds of dust billowing across the room.

Emon coughed and covered his mouth with his sleeve. "Rough night?"

"Fuck you," Eva grumbled. "Also, we're running out of time. The monsters have started to notice something big is here. We're just lucky they took a bad guess."

"Dakota was just coming to check on you. Said she heard weird noises."

Eva closed her eyes and sighed. "Fuck. Well, this is turning shitty. I'm thinking we should just tell her and get it over with quickly. Like a band aid or some shit."

Emon stared at her and blinked. "You're getting blood all over your bedsheets."

Eva looked down and saw the stains on her bed, coming from the long scratches where the harpy hand presumably tried to shred her flesh. "Goddammit. I hate when this happens."

Emon couldn't help but scoff. "You know, some would be blessed to have the same problem as you. If you could call it a problem."

"Oh, shut it. Why were you in the girl's wing anyway, you perv?"

"Well, after you ditched Alec and me-"

"-Shove off-"

"-I was um, wandering, and ran into Dakota."

She gave him a deadpan stare. "Wandering."

He narrowed his eyes, half annoyed and half amused. "What do you think I was doing?"

She shrugged, frustrated, and violently beat her pillowcase on the bed, sending more dust flying. "Oh, I don't know. Canoodling. Doing creepy things. I don't know."

He gave her a half smile. "Don't you trust me?"

She looked at him truthfully. "Not really."

On the outside, Emon gave her an easygoing smile and slinked out of the room without answering. And on the inside, he was happy. Happy that she didn't really trust him. Because she shouldn't.

**Sorry that took forever. Chapters should be coming sooner, hopefully.**

**Please review, let me know what you think! Yep. Do that, please.**


End file.
